Humanities Advocacy Day

Faculty advocate for the humanities

Six UO humanities faculty participated in the 2021 National Humanities Alliance’s (NHA) Humanities Advocacy Day on March 10th, asking Congressional staff for funding to support federally funded humanities research programs such as the National Endowment for the Humanities. These budgets are funded annually through appropriations passed by Congress. Participants included Tara Fickle, English; Nathalie Hester, Romance Languages; Daniel Rosenberg, Honors College; Maram Epstein, East Asian Languages and Literatures; Riki Saltzman, Oregon Folklife Network; and David de Lorenzo, Special Collections and University Archives.

Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) now chairs the appropriations subcommittee with jurisdiction over NEH, NEA, the National Archives, and other small independent programs for the arts and humanities, giving the state of Oregon important visibility on these funding issues. 

In addition, David de Lorenzo and an Oregon community college faculty member joined representatives from Princeton, Vanderbilt, and the University of Iowa to meet with the staff director to Senator Merkley’s subcommittee. He appreciated meeting the Oregon constituents. 

In past years, UO has had only one or two participants in the annual NHA meeting and follow-up advocacy day. The cost of travel coupled with the timing during dead week or finals has been a barrier to attendance. This year’s virtual event led to increased participation. Membership in the NHA is funded by the UO President’s Office.